Of the 195 independent countries in the world, only 17 are led by women. 在195位国家首脑里，只有17位是女性。

Women hold just 20 percent of seats in parliaments globally. 在世界各国的议会中，女性只占20%的席位。

A meager twenty-one of the Fortune 500 CEOs are women. 财富500强的首席执行官里仅有4%是女性。

Women hold about 14 percent of executive officer positions, 17 percent of board seats, and constitute 18 percent of our elected congressional officials. 在美国，企业主管人员、董事会和当选议员中女性分别约占14%、17%和18%。

The gap is even worse for women of color, 对有色人种来说，这种差距更悬殊，

who hold just 4 percent of top corporate jobs, 3 percent of board seats, and 5 percent of congressional seats. 女性仅占企业高管的4%、董事会席位的3%、议会席位的5%。

Progress remains equally sluggish when it comes to compensation. 薪酬待遇方面的改善也同样迟缓。

In 1970, American women were paid 59 cents for every dollar their male counterparts made. 1970年，美国女性与男性同事的薪酬比是0.59:1。

By 2010, women had protested, fought, and worked their butts off to raise that compensation to 77 cents for every dollar men made. 到2010年，女性的抗议、奋争以及努力工作的结果使得这个比例上升到了0.77:1。

As activist Marlo Thomas wryly joked on Equal Pay Day 2011, "Forty years and eighteen cents. 正如2011年马洛·托马斯在同酬日上所说：“40年来，薪酬只增加了18美分，

A dozen eggs have gone up ten times that amount." 而一打鸡蛋的价格涨幅却是它的10倍。”

I have watched these disheartening events from a front-row seat. 我一直以最近的距离观察着这些令人沮丧的现象。

I graduated from college in 1991 and from business school in 1995. 我1991年从大学毕业，1995年从商学院毕业，

In each entry-level job after graduation, my colleagues were a balanced mix of male and female. 毕业后在我从事的每一份入门级工作中，我的同事们在性别比例上都很均衡。